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Access Type
WSU Access
Date of Award
January 2024
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Communication
First Advisor
Pradeep Sopory
Abstract
Accessing professional mental health care when needed is essential for maintaining mental and physical well-being. However, stigma remains a significant barrier, particularly among minoritized populations. This dissertation investigated the effectiveness of social media mental illness recovery narratives in anti-stigma communication, focusing on African American, Hispanic, and Asian American populations. Drawing from narrative persuasion and social media affordance theories, an affordance-based social media narrative persuasion model was developed to understand how message characteristics and communication channels influenced the persuasiveness of anti-stigma messages. A three-wave longitudinal online experiment examined the impact of message form (narrative vs. non-narrative), narrative point of view (first-person vs. third-person), and social media evaluability (e.g., likes, comments, shares) affordances (present vs. absent) on reducing stigma and promoting behavioral intention toward professional mental health care. While narrative messages did not significantly reduce stigma or increase behavioral intention than non-narrative messages, evaluability affordances on social media significantly influenced the persuasiveness of recovery-oriented anti-stigma messages. Specifically, the presence of evaluability affordances influenced the impact of message form on self-devaluation stigma, which, in turn, influenced intentions toward professional mental health care. Although first-person narratives did not significantly influence narrative character identification, participants exposed to first-person narratives exhibited lower public stigma than those exposed to third-person narratives, with evaluability affordances moderating the impact of narrative point of view on public stigma. These findings provide initial support for the proposed affordance-based narrative persuasion model, indicating that the persuasiveness of recovery narrative messages can vary depending on the presence of evaluability affordances. Additionally, while the causal effect of recovery narratives over time remains unknown, the impact of time on self-stigma and behavioral intention emphasizes the need for sustained anti-stigma interventions. Overall, these findings emphasize the importance of considering both message characteristics and social media platform features in designing anti-stigma interventions. Findings contribute to persuasion theories and inform the development of evidence-based, culturally tailored, and inclusive anti-stigma health interventions.
Recommended Citation
Akhther, Najma, "Mental Health Recovery Narratives In Anti-Stigma Communication: Longitudinal Effects Of Narratives And Social Media Affordances On Reducing Stigma And Promoting Professional Service-Seeking Among Minoritized Communities" (2024). Wayne State University Dissertations. 4048.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/4048